Cambodian opposition head says ruling party deters democracy

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's opposition party leader has accused the government of restoring single-party rule following physical attacks on some opposition lawmakers and legal moves to purge others from the legislature.

Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Sam Rainsy made the accusations Wednesday in a posting on his Facebook page, accusing the ruling Cambodian People's Party of derailing democracy established by a 1991 U.N.-led peace agreement ending years of civil war.

A court last week ordered Rainsy's arrest on an old defamation conviction that many believed had been lifted by a 2013 pardon. The ruling party-dominated Parliament stripped Rainsy of his lawmaker's status and parliamentary immunity on Monday, prompting him to delay his return from an overseas trip.